Serengeti Friendship: Soccer Forgiveness

• Chosen for World Cup Exhibition at NELSON MANDELA FOUNDATION — original edition

REVISED EDITION: 2017 — The revised edition has a brand-new beginning, woven into the story's original opening, and various other revisions. Make sure resale books are this edition, not the old one.

KUDOS from DR. THOMAS HOWARD — renowned C.S. Lewis scholar, author, longtime English prof
"Serengeti Friendship is amazing, delightful, and actually quite moving. ... I'd love to see the book break through to an enormous audience."

IN THIS STORY FOR YOUNG PEOPLE OF ALL AGES, the giraffe remembers clearly. The elephant? Not exactly. The cheetah defends his memory — but the zebra calls him a lying cheetah.

So: 4 friends and teammates + 2 wildly opposing stories = 1 big mess. Oh, there's another friend: a gazelle, caught in the middle.

When a crisis of trust threatens to tear apart the heart of the African Animals, soccer success appears to be a mirage, the least of their concerns. Except for a minor detail — the Wild Animal World Cup begins soon.

But hope is in the air — and the sky. Literally.

During the dispute, a high-flying owl soars over the savanna and invites the friends for a visit.

So a trio skips a warm-up match and seeks the owl at his upside-down tree. At the match, the keeper makes an outrageous save — the first of its kind, according to the ELIONS Sports Bureau.

Meanwhile, at the upside-down tree, can the owl point the way to forgiveness? And help mend the torn heart of friendship for these teammates on the Serengeti? And save the soccer day ... in time for a World Cup victory?

PLUS: Five (hopefully) helpful appendixes, including a glossary, outtakes and Appendix E.

Appendix E is aimed mainly at the young at heart who are typically called "young adults" and "adults" and addresses the owl's reference to the "ancient writings." So Appendix E contains some musings (and, quite possibly, brain cramps) on certain ancient writings and their relationship to the creation/evolution debate, the faith/science fracas, the journalism/history question and more!

MORE from DR. THOMAS HOWARD
"Serengeti Friendship is amazing, delightful, and actually quite moving. I'd love to see the book break through to an enormous audience. It stands at a polar extreme from everything that comes at young people — well, all of us, let's face it — in this chaotic epoch of ours. The sheer, transparent goodness at work in it is immensely refreshing."

• Chosen for World Cup Exhibition at NELSON MANDELA FOUNDATION — original edition
• Featured on morning radio show on WTIC 1080, Connecticut's news station
• Highlighted in the Hartford Courant
• Featured on TLV Sports Talk Show